Direktrapport från Holte End
Läs om eländet i måndags, hur Blånäsorna blivit hatade över hela England, saknaden av Merson och hur snacket går på Holte End om Villas nyförvärv denna säsong. Har vi ny tränare till jul?
Lets get the worst part out of the way first. To get beaten 3-0 by the Great Unwashed is an absolute disaster. The manner of the defeat was humiliating and the club was made to look like a laughing stock in front of the whole country and to those watching further afield. To put it simply,for the first half Villa were absolute rubbish, there was no passion or desire. Too many of the team were not interested, seemingly unaware of what it meant to be playing against the scum. The responsibilty for that must
lie with GT, surely motivation is down the the Manager. In the second half, the performance was far better and it looked like Villa would soon score. Two comical errors which I am sure you all saw) left all the Villa fans looking in disbelief.
I never thought I would see the day when Villa were humbled by the mutants from Small Heath. Maybe that has been the problem. Villa have had it too easy for too long among the local teams. We have been concentrating on playing Man U', Liverpool, Arsenal etc. and not bothering about our local rivals. Sure we have looked and laughed as Blues, Albion Wolves and Cov have suffered the delights of the lower divisions and been beaten by the footballing giants of Kidderminster, Woking, Chorley and Sutton. One of the best night I have ever had, was celebrating in the City Centre on the night that Blues lost to Altrincham. On a good away day, Villa fans still sing about it.
What we have now is the prospect of living in the shadow of both Blues and Albion, and that really wont be tolerated. While the fans understand that,I'm not sure that the players are particularly concerned. It was obvious the other night that there were only 4 or 5 players that seemed bothered, several of the more recent buys didnt want to know. There was talk of Alpay and Angel knowing about big derby games. There was no evidence of that as they ponced about like they couldnt care less.
There is one positive about the game. That is that the younger Villa element, and to others that have no knowledge of bluenoses, they now know exactly what they are like. I cannot think of another club which lets their supporters run onto the pitch 3 TIMES confronting players without being stopped by stewards.
The whole club, from the Porn Baron Sullivan downwards is totally rotten. Brady and Gold have been attempting to justify the events as not being serious and just fans enjoying themselves by celebrating on the pitch. They seemed to forget about several players who were confronted by these yobs. Fans from various English clubs have been phoning national radio phone ins to tell of unpleasant incidents when they have played Birmingham. There are several small clubs who are more well known for moronic fans than their football and blues are one of them, alongside the likes of Cardiff, Stoke, Millwall.
What is now important, is that Villa finish above the scum and Albion and to make sure that we get revenge at Villa Park.
The rest of the season? It must be said that it has been a poor start by Villa, starting by the embarrasment at home to Lille (who are almost bottom in France). Generally, Villa have been poor and apart from the away game at Spurs when we should have thrashed them, the football has been dour with little inspiration. If the results don´t start to improve QUICKLY then there will be problems down at Villa Park. The 27,000 crowd against a very poor Charlton team is a sign that the attendances at home will go down very quickly and once again, most of the attention will be focussed at getting rid of Ellis and the board (Mark Ansell is particularly unpopular). Ellis Out posters are again appearing around the ground. There is also a banner displayed in the Upper Holte asking 'Where's the ambition'. There are also grumblings about Graham Taylor, tho' these have been placated a little by the last two wins against Charlton and Man City.
It would be fair to say that there is a poor atmosphere down the Villa and there are no signs that it is about to improve. Anything other than a win against the bluescouse will not go down very well with the Villa fans.
As for the players, the majority have not been performing to their potential. Among the positive signs are DLC, Barry, Samuel, Hendrie and Moore (and apart from the blues game Mellberg and Enks). Alpay has had to swallow his pride (as no clubs wanted to buy him) and start playing for us again - tho' he still gets a good reception by the fans. Angel is losing support from a lot of supporters. I think he has not been playing well since John Gregory left, again, where are the clubs wanting to buy him ?. He is in danger of turning into another Savo. Boulding is out of his depth. I dont really like to really slag off particular players (apart from Kachloul and all time worst Nigel Callaghan), but Crouch has been appalling. Absolutely appalling.
These are important times for the Villa, we are frequently called a crisis club in the national media and if results dont improve It will be no suprise to see a new manger by Christmas. (What chance a new chairman? No chance). We are in danger of being taken over as the main club in the Midlands, now we will see what the players are capable of and how much they want the Villa to succeed. GT has the support of most Villa fans, but only because of his past. The support is in serious danger of disappearing very soon.
Its no fun being a Villa fan at the moment and things may get worse. Luckily, West Ham, Sunderland and Charlton are worse than us. The players MUST restore some pride into the club. The fact that we couldnt sell some of the older rubbish that we have during the some, shows a lack of quality in the playing staff. It is up to the younger ones to carry this team. The biggest error from GT (even bigger than Crouch), Is selling the one playmaker that we had, the only player with the quality and ability to open up opposing defences. Giving Paul Merson away was unforgiveable and the team have suffered because of it. He is outstanding for Portsmouth and you wouldnt have seen him giving in like the rest on Monday night.
Michael Hurley
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